Trust: A Maximum Ride Fanfiction
by MaybeMagical
Summary: Skyla escaped the School a year ago, and just escaped the Erasers again. The Flock accepts her when she comes to them, but Fang isn't ready to trust her. Can he Skyla be trusted with his secrets? Read to find out! OCXIggy, MaxXFang
1. Chapter 1: Skyla

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride!!!!!!!!!! I only own Skyla and the plot! ON WITH THE STORY!!!!!!!!**

A/N: I edited this chapter...I found Skyla to be a little Mary-Sue-ish.

Skyla's Point Of View(POV)

_Finally_, I thought, sitting down in the bookstore cafe with a steaming mug of hot cocoa. _I can take a break_. I had been running for the past hour from Erasers that had found me, and finally hid in a small town in Southern California. I grabbed a magazine off the racks near me and opened it up.

In case you're wondering who I am(Which you most likely are), let me explain. My name is Skyla. No last name. Just Skyla. I chose it myself. I'm thirteen and three quuarters of a year old. I escaped from the School a little over a year ago, thank God, but now I'm on the run. Litteraly. As in, almost every day, I walk, run, or fly for most of my time, and never stay in the same place for more than two days.

I am 98% human and 2% avian. So I have wings. Big, blue wings, about eleven feet across, with black and white feathers contemplating the blue ones. I have dark blue hair, too, that goes halfway down my back, though I usuallt keep it in a ponytail or two pigtails. Most normal people think I dyed it. If I was one of them, I probably _would_ have dyed it blue. I have skin that stays pretty tan year-round, and I'm extremely skinny, only about eighty-five pounds. I am, however, five foot six. I have extremly light bones and bigger than average lungs. I usually wear black jean shorts, and a black t-shirt. I have black skater shoes with red stripes, too. My favorite color's black, if you didn't guess yet. I have a backpack that I keep my few belongings in. As of now, I have a couple more pieces of clothing, not much, about a hundred bucks(don't ask how I got it), my trusty skateboard for getting around when I can't fly, a couple of granola bars and water bottles, a little first-aid kit, and my black baseball cap.

I'm one of the few experiments at the School that knows their exact birthday--October 4th, to be exact--because until I was about six, the whitecoats took some pity on me. Well, if not being forced to run and fight other experiments, instead injecting me with stuff to see how I reacted, and doing mental tests was pity. When I was born, I was crippled. The growth in my left leg had been stunted, so I couldn't walk without the help of a cane or wheelchair. When I turned six, the gave me a prosthetic leg, so I was able to move around, but, unfortunately, gave them en excuse to start torturing me some more. One whitecoat, I remember, named Jeb Batchelder, actually took me out of my cage on my birthdays and would take me outside secretely to help me learn to fly.

The School was where I lived basically my whole life up to last year. For me, there's School, and after the School. I can't remember before the School, if there was a time like that. It was there that I got wings and the blue hair. That, and all my other bird crap. I've seen other mutants--there were other ones like me, but I never got the chance to talk to them or meet them. I simply knew they were there. I also knew I was the only one with hair that matched my wings. I heard that they escaped, three years before I did, but I never did find out if that was true or not.

I also have powers. I have a photographic memory, and healing powers that I'm still getting the hang of. Actually, I can use them as offense in a fight, by using it to mess up people's bodies. It's harder than it seems, let me tell you. I have to concentrate super hard, and it's kind of exhausting. I have another power that I can't control, though. It's not exactly one that I like. What it is, you ask? I'll tell you. Sometimes, certain words trigger a kind of flashback. The wierd thing is, for instance, I once ad a flashback when someone said "experiment", and then I remembered some of the horrible things from the School. But the word "experiment" hasn't triggered anything since then. And when that happens, I usually pass out, or at least get the shakes really bad.

Anyways, the School creates tons of us, different mutant freaks, different combinations of DNA. Most don't live longer than a few months, except for avian-human hybrids, and Erasers. Erasers are human-lupine hybrids so they're part wolf. Most of the time, they look like human supermodels, totally gorgous, and have the voices of angels, no lie. Then they transform. Into huge, freakish wolf-men. Think of Wolverine from X-Men. Multiply his strength by, oh, say three dozen times, and add on a couple more feet onto him. Oh, and make it ugly.

Nice, huh?

So anyhow, I was finally taking a break, enjoying myself for once. I was halfway done with my drink when the bell opove the door jingled. I glanced up, expecting to see a geeky high schooler or a buisness man like almost everyone else here, but saw three men in suits come in. Three gorgous, tall men, with cruel eyes.

In the middle of them was Ari.

Oh, damn.

* * *

My brain went into panic mode. Erasers were here. They found me already. And Ari was with them. _Ari_. He despised me ever since I beat him in a fight at the school the whitecoats made me do as a strength test. It was probably his life's dream to kill me.

I had to get out of there, one way or another. I grabbed my hat and walked out the door. I crammed my hat onto my head and then when I hit the sidewalk, startd to run.

Only seconds after I was moving, the Erasers come out of the store. I picked up my pace, hoping I looked like an innocent, completly normal runner. One Eraser got into a pickup parked next to the curb. Ari and the thrid Eraser started running after me. I poured on speed, going as fast as I could. I'm faster than an Olympic runner, stronger than a world-champion weight lifter, but Erasers are even more so.

I dashed to a park that was completely deserted and was about to open my wings when Ari lunged at me. Not seeing this coming, I managed to move a little bit out of the way, but not enough. Ari didn't comepletely pummel me, but I lost my balance and fell over onto the grass. I rolled out of the way as a kick came, aimed at my face, and jumped up, facing Ari, now beginning to transform. "Long time no see, Skyla," he said, almost casually. "How long has it been, twenty minutes?" This caused the other Eraser to laugh.

I glared at him, knowing I was going to have to fight him. I was still exhausted from my escape from him earlier, so this was going to be difficult. Would my powers be any help? I sure hoped so.

He grinned at me, now fully transformed.

Ari snarled and came at me suddenly. He spun a kick at me and I ducked under his leg, kicking his knee on the leg he balanced on. He fell to the ground but was up in a second. I managed to get a few feet away. I ran at him and jumped, my leg aimed at is chest. He grabbed my leg and spun me around, and I crashed to the ground. He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind me. I kicked at him, which only irritated him more.

The Eraser that went to the van came up then. He managed to tie my hands behind me while Ari held me down--with difficulty. He grabbed me, freeing Ari to do as he please. I was kicking and yelling, going nuts. To shut me up, Ari punched me. Right. In. The. Stomach. Ouch.

I gasped for breath--my God, this guy's strong--and Ari took that opportunity to throw me over his shoulder. He carried me to the pickup and threw me in the back. He tied my feet together and then threw a bunch of blankets over me, hiding me from prying eyes.

I heard an Eraser get in beside me and tensed, expecting another blow. Instead I heard him pass something to another Eraser, then he got in the front with the others.

I stayed quiet for a while, making a plan. Then I realized something--if I tried to escape, the Erasers would have to get out first before they could get me. I moved around and realized even with my arms close together behind me, I could unfold my wings. I waited until I could tell we were on a highway, then kicked the blankets off me. The Erasers took no notice. I stood up carefully--moving at 60 miles per hour, that's a dangerous feat. Then I heard a shout from Ari. I grinned and jumped as high as I could, unfolding and beating my wings as fast as I possibly could. I was airborne and rocketing up. THe Erasers managed to pull over, but their voices were already fading into the distance.

I flew east. After an hour I stopped and landed. I managed to find a sharp rock and saw through the ropes. Then I took a quick break, eating a granola bar and chugging down some water. I took to the air again in five minutes. I flew and flew, feeling wonderful as the air whipped my now loose hair around my face. I grinned and then I saw a lake.

I decided to go down. Maybe find some people, or at least a safe place to stay and get my strength back. I saw hawks circling, flying above the water. Five of them looked way too big to be hawks. They had to be something bigger. Then I saw them land on a ledge in the cliffs surrounding the water. Curious, I followed after. I landed on the ledge and heard--unbelievably--voices. Talking. I took a few steps into a cave, and then heard feet running. Then two hands grabbed me by the arms and held me back from going any farther before I could react, other than letting out a little yelp.

A voice--a girl's voice--said,"Who are you? What are you doing here?"


	2. Chapter 2: Explanations

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or Yoda. I do own Skyla.**

A/N: More editing! Whoopee!

I stared in shock once my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I saw four kids in front of me--a blond gilr, maybe five or six; a blond boy who looked about eight; an African-American girl who looked like she was ten or twelve; a strawberry blond pale boy, maybe my age; and a blond girl standing in front of me, maybe my age, a year older, tops. I looked up at the person holding me--a boy with dark hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. They were all tall and thin, like me. The guy holding me glared down at me. "Can you _let go of me_?" I asked, glaring back.

The blond girl answered. "Answer my question first. Who are you and why are you here?"

"My name's Skyla. I saw _you_ go in here, and I followed. I was just attacked, if you must know. Now, tell me, who are _you_?" I asked.

"Who attacked you? How did you see us?" Man, this chick was persistent. I sighed.

"This guy named Ari. And I was...flying." She stared at me. So did everyone else. "What?" I snapped.

The girl stared at me, then without looking away, said,"Fang, let her go." The guy let go of me, and I stepped away. "Can you answer my question already?" I demanded, exasperated.

The girl blinked, and shook her head. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry." She paused, blinked again, like she was really confused.

"So? You guys got names?" I asked. "I'm Max. That's Fang"--she motoined to the tall dark dude who was holding me--"Iggy"--the guy with the strawberry blond hair. A closer look told me he was blind. "We're fourteen. Nudge is eleven--" African American girl--"and the Gasman and Angel are eight and six. They're brother and sister." The--Gasman? Really?--and Angel were the two littlest blond kids. I noticed that Angel had a big bruise on the side of her face.

_Oh, my God. Who'd do that to a little kid!?_ I thought furiously. I took a step towards her. "I...I have healing powers. Do you want me to help you?" I asked. Angel watched me for a second, then turned to Max. "It's okay, Max," she said. "She's telling the truth. She's like us, too."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Max answered. "Angel can read minds. She did yours to make sure we could trust you. I guess you're in the clear. And about you being like us, this is what she meant." She unfurled her wings. I stared. They were brown and white. The rest of them followed her lead, except for Fang. "What do yours look like?" Max asked casually, as if discussing the weather. I unfolded my wings. "Blue," she said. "Nice."

Angel turned to me. "Do you have any powers? Beside's healing?" I nodded. "I have a photographic memory," I said weakly.

Max looked at me. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen. And three quarters."

"You actually know you birthday?" asked Max, amazed. I nodded. "Interesting," was all Max said.

"Can I...Can I, like, stay with you guys?" I asked her. She looked at the others. Nudge and Angel smiled. Iggy and the Gasman--I'm never going to get used to hearing that name, I'm telling you--nodded. Fang did nothing.

Max turned back to me. "Welcome to the flock," she said, smiling.

* * *

We were flying now, flying high above the clouds. I was ecstatic. I finally had people I could call family. We were headed to New York. I'd been there before, when I was running. I hoped the Flock was much better at hiding than I was, as in, not fighting off Erasers about every two weeks, and staying in one place for a while.

Anyways, we were flying above the clouds. "God!" Nudge said, speeding up a bit to catch up with Max. "It's just so, so...you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Max said, grinning.

"I mean, the air, and we're up so high, and no one's after us, and we're all together, and we hit IHOP for breakfast." She looked at Max. "I mean, God, we're just up here, and it's so cool, and down below kids are stuck in school or, like, cleaning their rooms. I used to hate cleaning my room."

_Lucky_, I thought. _I never even had a room_. Oh well. The past is the past, right? Then I was pulled out of my thoughts as I heard a little choking sound from Max. I turned just in time to see her wings fold in and she started to fall.

Damn.

I folded my own wings in, dropped past Max, then opened them again, stopping. Max was about two feet above my head. I jerked back a little, and Max fell into my arms. I fell about ten more feet, with an "Ooof!" and then Fang was next to me. Max was clutching her head, most likely in pain. Fang grabbed Max from me before I could say anything. "Hey, I can--"I started to protest, but he glared at me and then flew up to the rest of the Flock. I stared at him, openmouthed. _God, I really hate him...What does he have against me?_ I though furiously. _What, like I'm working for the freaking School? Jeez, if he wasn't such a pest, I wouldn't hate him. That annoying, self-centered..._ I went on thinking like this for a while as I caught up to the Flock and we kept flying.

_Idiot, arrogant, rotten..._my list went on and on, and after I hit _moron_, I heard another voice in my head. _Skyla? You know a lot of words._ If it's possible to jump while flying, I just did. _ANGEL!?_ I looked over and she smiled. _Why are you in my head?! _I thought furiously.

_I wanted to know what you were thinking about. Fang just doesn't trust you yet. He will, it'll just take time. He's like that with everyone. Soon, you guys'll be friends._

Ummm...Thank you, Yoda. How do I respond to that?!

_Um...if you say so, Angel._ I heard a groan and saw Max opening her eyes. Fang looked down at her. "You weigh a freaking ton, Max," he said. "What have you been eating, rocks?"

"Why, is your head missing some?" she retorted. He almost smiled at that. Geez, he must have been really worried.

"Max, are you okay?" Nudge asked. She looked so scared and little.

"Uh-huh," Max told her. She looked at Fang. "Find a place to land," she told him. "Please."

* * *

An hour later we made camp, and Max was back to her old self. Iggy lit a fire. Soon we were trying to roast different things over the fire. Bologna, s'mores, bananas, bacon. We tried everything we had, some ending up good, some, not so good.

After a while, we went to sleep, using our sweatshirts and jackets as pillows and blankets. I had been asleep for a while, dreaming about food. Big, gooey cheeseburgers, hot, crispy fries, sweet ice cream, ice cold soda. Yum.

In my dream, I was about to take my first bite when I jerked awake at the sound of Iggy shouting,"Well, spill it!" I opened my eyes and looked over, propping myself up on my elbows. I blinked and saw Angel sitting with Max, Iggy looking slightly irritated, and the rest of the Flock stirring and waking.

"They have files on us," Angel was saying. "Like, the main files. They're in New York. At a place called the Institute."

"The Institute?" Max repeated. "In New York City or upstate New York?"

"I don't know," Angel said. "I think it was called the Institute. The Living Institute or something."

You know how we always talk about our parents but didn't really know if we were made in test tubes?" Angel said quietly. Max nodded, and she continued.

"I saw my name in Jeb's old files," Nudge insisted. "I really did."

"I know, Nudge," Max said. "Listen to Angel for a minute."

"Nudge is right," Angel blurted out. "We did have parents—real parents. We weren't made in test tubes. We were born, like real babies. We were born from human mothers."

"You've sat on this since yesterday?" Iggy sounded furious at Angel. "What's the matter with you? Just because you're the youngest doesn't mean you have to be the dumbest."

"Look," Max said calmly, "let's all calm down and let Angel talk. Can you tell us everything you heard?"

"I only got bits and pieces," she said uncomfortably, sounding really sorry. "I'm sorry, everybody. I've just felt yucky . . . and it all makes me really, really sad too. I don't wanna cry again. Awww, I'm crying again."

"It's okay, Angel," Fang said. "We understand. You're safe now, here with us."

"It sounded like," Angel began slowly, "we came from different places, different hospitals. But they got us after we were born. We weren't test-tube babies."

"How did they get us?" Fang asked. "And how did they get the bird genes into us?"

"I didn't really understand," said Angel. "It sounded like—like they got the genes into us before we were born somehow." She rubbed her forehead, thinking hard. "With a test? An amino . . . ammo . . ."

"Amniocentesis?" Max asked.

"Yeah," said Angel. "That's it. And somehow they got the bird genes into us with it."

"It's okay, just keep going," Max told her.

"So we got born, and the doctors gave us to the School," Angel went on. "I heard—I heard that they told Nudge's mom and dad that she had died. But she hadn't."

Nudge made a gulping sound, her large brown eyes full of tears. "I did have a mom and dad," she whispered. "I did!"

"And Iggy's mom—"

I saw Iggy tense as he focused on Angel's small voice.

"Died," Angel said, and took in a shuddering breath, looking ready to start sobbing. "She died when he was born."

The look of stunned grief on Iggy's face was terrible. I felt so bad for him.

"What about us?" the Gasman asked. "How could they get both of us, two years apart?"

Angel wiped her eyes. "Our parents gave us to the School themselves," she said, and started crying again, sobbing, her thin shoulders shaking.

The Gasman's mouth dropped open, his eyes round. "What?"

"They wanted to help the School," Angel said, gasping through her sobs. "They let them put bird genes in us. And gave us away for money."

"Did you hear anything about me? Or Max?" Fang said, stripping the bark off a stick. His tone was casual, but his whole body was tight, stiff, apprehensive.

"Your mom thought you died, like Nudge," Angel said. "She was a teenager. They don't know who your dad was. But they told your mom you died."

The stick Fang was holding snapped in two, his knuckles white. I saw pain in his dark eyes.

"Did you hear anything about me? I mean, I know you didn't know me then, but, did you?" I aske, feeling childish.

Ange; nodded. "I heard your name. I didn't know who they meant, but now I know it was you they talked about. Your mom... she died, and then they kidnapped you a few days after you were born." I felt tears come to my eyes at the thought that I really had parents. Or at least one. I actually had a dad! But I knew there was no way I'd evey find him. And if I did, I doubt he'd think I was his daughter that was kidnapped almost fourteen years ago.

Max cleared her throat. "What about me?"

Angel blinked up at her through tears. "I didn't hear anything about you, Max. Nothing. I'm real sorry."

"I can't believe it," the Gasman said again. "They gave us away. They must be sick. Sick jerks. I'm glad I don't know them."

"I'm sorry, Gazzy," Max said. Again. "Angel? It's late, sweetie. Why don't you try to get some sleep? Actually, we could all use an early night."

"I'm going to sleep too," said Nudge, her voice still thick from when she was crying. "I just want this day to end."

The six of them gathered around. Max held out her left fist, and Fang put his on top of it, and everyone else did too, except for me. Max looked over at me. I came closer. "What?" I asked.

"Come on. Put your fist on top," she said. I did, and then when we had a stack, they tapped the backs of one another's fists with our right hands.

Angel curled up in her spot, and Max covered her with a sweatshirt. The Gasman lay down next to her, and then Nudge settled down too. Max knelt next to her and tucked her collar around her neck.

I lay back down again. I never really cared about having parents before now, but now I was thinking. What would it be like if I lived with my father? Would he cook me breakfast, drive me to school? I was trying to fall asleep and heard Max and Fang talking.

"So maybe you were hatched after all," Fang said.

Max laughed drily. "Yeah. Maybe so. Maybe they found me in a cabbage patch."

"In a way, you're lucky," he said quietly. "Not knowing is better. It leaves all the possibilities open. Your story could be worse, but it could also be a hell of a lot better."

He paused. I heard him open his wings. "A teenager, jeez," he said in disgust. "She was probably a crack addict or something."

He never would have said that if the others were awake, I could tell.

"Maybe not," Max said. "Maybe she was a nice kid who just made a mistake. At least she wanted to actually wait the nine months and have you. Maybe she would have kept you or let a really nice family adopt you."

Fang snorted. "On the one hand, we have a mythical nice family that wants to adopt me. On the other, we have a gang of insane scientists desperate to do genetic experiments on innocent children. Guess which hand I get dealt?"

I heard him lay down next to Gazzy and close his eyes.

I lay awake for a while, thinking some more about my father. I fell asleep eventually, late into the night.

* * *

"Yo!" Max said loudly. "Up and at 'em!" I opened my eyes, stretched and proceeded to where Max was starting to pop a bag of popcorn for our breakfast.

"We're headed for the Big Apple, guys. The city that never sleeps. I think we're maybe six, seven hours away."

Twenty minutes later, we were taking off, one by one. Max was last, after Angel, and she ran about twenty feet, then leaped into the air, beating her wings hard. She was maybe ten feet off the ground when it happened again: Max cried out and fell to the ground, clutching her head, curled in a ball. We landed next to her.

"Max?" Fang asked,"Is it like before?" He put a hand on her shoulder.

After a while, she got up, crawled over to some bushes and puked.

"Max, what is the matter with you?" Angel said, sounding as scared as she looked.

"Think you should see a doctor?" Fang asked.

"Oh, yes, that's a good idea," she said weakly. "We need to let more people in authority know about us."

"Look," Fang began, but she cut him off.

"I'm okay now," she said firmly. "Maybe it's a stomach bug or something. Let's just go to New York."

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Chapter 2 is up(again)! What do you think? I hope with the editing it came out better. Please review! This took a couple of days to write, I took a bunch of the actual dialog from the book so it would make more sense than the last chapter... But anyways, I still added twists for Skyla. In the next chapter you'll learn more about her personality. Thankies for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: NYC, Concerts and Zoos, oh my

**Hi! Okay, I have one review--not making me happy. But I'll live, and two people favorited me. Good enough, right? Right?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Boo hoo.**

**But I DO own my OC, Skyla. ON WITH THE STORY!!!!**

**A/N: I edited this, too!!!**

"Oh, my God," Max muttered, staring at the lights below us. I looked down and gasped.

"That's a lot of people," Fang said, coming up beside me and Max.

"Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh," Nudge was saying excitedly. "I want to go down there! I want to walk on Fifth Avenue! I want to go to museums!" She turned to Max. "Do we have any money left? Can we get something to eat? Can we, like, go shopping?"

"We have some money," Max told her. "We can get something to eat. But remember, we're here to find the Institute." Nudge nodded, but I knew that all she heard was "We have some money."

"What's that sound?" Iggy asked, concentrating. "It's music. Is there music below us? How could we hear it, way up here?" Central Park was below us. At one end, in a clearing, I could see an enormous crowd of people. Huge floodlights were shining over them.

"I think it must be a concert," Max told Iggy. "In the park. An outdoor concert."

"Oh, so cool!" Nudge said. "Can we go? Please, Max, please? A real concert!" If it's possible for someone to bounce up and down with excitement while flying, Nudge was doing it. The park _was_ pretty dark. And there _were_ hundreds of thousands of people down there. I was pretty sure thet even Erasers would have a hard time finding us in that crowd.

Max made a decision. "Yes. Try to come down right behind a floodlight's beam, so we won't be seen." We landed silently among a group of oaks. We took a moment to shake out our legs, and fold in our wings and covered them with our jackets. After a head count, Max walked out, and we followed, trying to look normal.

The music was unbelievably loud, and I thought I would pass out, because there were so many people! Speakers taller than us were stacked on top of one another, three high. To me it felt as if the actual ground was vibrating. "What concert is this?" Iggy asked, yelling in Max's ear. Max peered over tens of thousands of heads to see the raised stage. Thanks to our raptorlike vision, she had no trouble making out the musicians. And a banner that said Natalie and Trent Taylor. "It's the Taylor Twins," she reported, and most of the flock whooped and whistled. Who were the Taylor Twins? No idea. I never had time to listen to music.

Angel kept close to Max, her small hand in Max's, as we stood among the crowd. We were enough on the edge that we avoided the sardine effect of the people closer to the stage. I think I would have started busting some heads if I'd been that hemmed in, that unable to move. Iggy put the Gasman on his shoulders and gave him his lighter to burn, like thousands of other people. The Gasman swayed in time to the music, holding the lighter high. "Where did you get a lighter?" I shreiked as Gazzy almost set my hair on fire for the third time. Iggy grinned at me, not saying anything.

We listened to Natalie and Trent(Who on _Earth_ were they!?) until the concert ended. As soon as the rivers of people began to flow past us, we melted into the shadows of the trees. The branches above us were thick and welcoming. We flew up into them, settling comfortably. "That was awesome," Nudge said happily. "I can't believe how many people there are, all crowded into one place. I mean, listen. . . . There's no silence, ever. I can hear people and traffic and sirens and dogs barking. I mean, it was always so quiet back at home."

"Too quiet," said the Gasman.

"Well, I hate it," Iggy said flatly. "When it's quiet, I can tell where the heck things are, people are, where echoes are bouncing off. Here I'm just surrounded with a thick, smothering wall of sound. I want to get out of here."

"Oh, Iggy, no!" Nudge cried. "This place is so cool. You'll get used to it."

"We're here to find out what we can about the Institute," Max reminded both of them. "I'm sorry, Iggy, but maybe you'll get a little more used to it soon. And Nudge, this isn't a pleasure trip. Our goal is to find the Institute."

"How are we gonna do that?" Angel asked.

"I have a plan," Max said firmly.

There was no way that she did.

* * *

When we woke up at dawn the next morning, there were already joggers, bicyclers, even horseback riders weaving their way along the miles and miles of trails in Central Park. We slipped down out of the trees and casually wandered the paths. Within an hour, speed skaters were rushing by, street performers were setting up their props, and the paths were almost crowded with dog walkers and mothers pushing jogging strollers.

"That lady has six white poodles!" Nudge whispered excitedly behind her hand. "Who needs six white poodles?"

"Maybe she sells them," Max suggested, "to kids with big wide eyes."

"Something smells awesome," Iggy said, swiveling his head to detect the source. "What is that? It's over there." He pointed off to my left.

"There's a guy selling food," I said happily. "Honey-roasted peanuts!" I _loved_ honey-roasted nuts.

"I am so there," said Iggy. "Can I have some money?" Iggy, Angel, and Max went to buy eight small bags of honey-roasted peanuts (they really did smell like heaven, and I don't even really _like_ nuts), and Fang, Nudge, the Gasman and I went to look at a clown selling balloons. The others were walking over to join us when something about the clown caught my eye. She was watching a sleek, dark-haired guy strolling down a path. Their gazes met.

I shivered. That was bad. "Iggy, heads up," I heard Max whisper. "Get the others."

Fang, doing an automatic sweep of the area, saw her expression. In the next moment he had clamped a hand on Nudge's and the Gasman's shoulders and spun them around to walk quickly away. I followed beside them, with Nudge's hand in mine. We met on the path and sped up. One glance behind me showed the dark-haired guy following us. He was joined by a woman who looked just as intent and powerful as he did.

A flow of swear words ran through my brain. It was really darn hard to keep them to myself.

They were gaining on us.

"Run!" Max said. We can run faster than most grown men, but the Erasers had also been genetically enhanced. If we couldn't find an out, we were done for.

Now there were three of them—they'd been joined by another male-model type. They had broken into an easy trot and were closing the space between us. Paths merged into other paths, sometimes narrowing, sometimes widening. Again and again, we almost crashed into bikers or skaters going too fast to swerve.

"Four of them," Fang said. "Pour it on, guys!" We sped up. They were maybe twenty yards behind us. Hungry grins marred their good-looking faces.

"Six of them!" I said.

"They're too fast," Fang informed Max unnecessarily. "Maybe we should fly." Max bit her lip, keeping a tight grip on Angel's hand. Oh, no. They were even closer now.

"Eight of them!" said Fang. _Ooooh, damn._

"Left!" Iggy said, and without question we all hung a sudden left. How he knew it was there, I have no idea. Our path suddenly opened into a wider plaza surrounded by vendors selling all kinds of stuff. Some brick buildings were on the left, and a big crowd of kids was passing through a metal gate.

I caught a glimpse of a sign: Central Park Zoo.

"Merge!" Max whispered, and just like that, we melted smoothly into the horde of schoolkids. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and I ducked down to be shorter, and we all wormed our way into the middle of the group, so we were surrounded by other kids. None of them seemed to think it was weird we were there—there must have been more than two hundred of them being herded through the gate. Jeezums.

I looked behind me quickly. The Erasers had spread out and were looking for us, definintly pissed. One of the big creeps tried to push past the policeman at the zoo gate, but the cop blocked his way. "School day only," I heard him say. "No unauthorized adults. Oh, you're a chaperone? Yeah? Show me your pass."

With a growl, the Eraser backed away and rejoined his companions. I grinned: stopped in his tracks by a New York cop. Yes! We reached the entry gate: the moment of truth. I held my breath...

We got waved in!

"Pass, pass, pass," the gate person muttered, motioning us through without looking at us. Inside the zoo, we scrambled off to one side, then paused for a moment and slapped high fives. "Yes!" the Gasman said. "School day only! Yes! I love this place!"

"The zoo!" Nudge said, practically quivering with excitement. "I've always wanted to see a zoo! I've read about 'em—I've seen them on TV. This is so great! Thanks, Max."

Max smiled and nodded. "Come on, let's get farther in," said Iggy, sounding nervous. "Put some distance between us and them. Jeez, was that a lion? Please tell me it's behind bars."

"It's a zoo, Iggy," Nudge said, taking his arm and leading him. "Everything is behind bars."

Like I used to be. What a coinkeydink.

* * *

"Oh, man, look at the polar bear!" The Gasman pressed his face against the glass, watching as the huge swam in its big pool. The bear had an empty steel beer keg to play with, and it was batting through the water.

Two bears, actually. A big bear and a smaller bear. They had a pretty nice place, with huge rocks, an enormous swimming pool, toys to play with. "Man," said Gazzy wistfully. "I'd love to have a pool."

"That would be really cool," Max agreed. All these animals still had it so much better than I'd had it at the School. I felt...Angry? Scared? I don't know.

I rubbed my hand across my arm. But Nudge, the Gasman, Angel, and Iggy were having a great time. Nudge were describing everything to Iggy, and they were laughing and running around. Just like normal kids. I mean, except for the wings, and bones, and big lungs and all.

"This place gives me the creeps," Fang said.

"You too? I'm going nuts," Max admitted. "It's flashback city. And I have--" she stopped for a sceond, then said,"an overwhelming desire to set all these animals free."

"Free to do what?" Fang asked drily.

"Just to be out, to escape," Max said.

"Out in the middle of Manhattan?" Fang pointed out. "Free to live without protection, without someone bringing them food, with no idea of how to take care of themselves? They're better off here. Unless you want to fly to Greenland with a polar bear on your back."

Max shot Fang a look and went to round up everyone. "Can we leave?" she asked them. "I just--want to get out of here."

"Me, too," I said.

"You look kind of green," the Gasman said with interest.

"Yeah. Can we split before I upchuck in front of all these impressionable kids?" Max asked.

"Over here," Fang said, motioning us to a big crevice between two huge manufactured rocks. It led back to a path that must have been for the zookeepers—it was empty and roped off.

We managed to get out of there without anyone crashing, screaming, or throwing up. What a nice change.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter! Yay! Yay! It took me a while to update and edit, sorry about that, I had to research the Gubernatorial Debate for Civics, I was sick for a week, and was sick for another week now, I got snowed over with homework. **

**Please R&R! I love you people!**


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